The Tribune, Chandigarh, India

Wednesday, November 22, 2000,
Chandigarh, India

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M A I N N E W S

W. Bengal CM ready to join hands with Laloo, Jaya
From Subhransgshu Gupta

calcutta, Nov 21 — The new Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mr Buddhadev Bhattacharya, says that he has no hesitation in joining hands with Mr Laloo Yadav and Mrs Rabri Devi as well as Ms Jayalalitha to fight against the Vajpayee government on the states’ legitimate demands.

In an exclusive interview with The Tribune, which appears inside, he says the BJP is the country’s biggest enemy today. It will never be a better party in the future (than it is today) and he will strive to save the nation from the clutches of the RSS and the Bajrang Dal.

On his own elevation he says that he will have to get the assistance of all his colleagues to do the work which Mr Jyoti Basu used to manage alone.

Mukhija murder: weapons found
Tribune News Service

MOGA, Nov 21 — Surjit Singh, one of the six suspects in the Mukhija murder case has told the police that he has no regrets for slaying the senior Congress leader in Dharamkot on November 13.

Police sources revealed that Surjit Singh, gunman of Gurbux Singh Kukku, who is also wanted in the case, had avenged the imprisonment and harassment of his sister allegedly at the behest of Mukhija a few years ago.

Surjit had earlier surrendered before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in Ferozepore and was sent in police remand. His interrogation revealed that he was involved in the crime as Mukhija had implicated his sister in a criminal case that resulted in her imprisonment. Although she was freed later, it became a stumbling-block to her marriage prospects.

The sources quoted Surjit as saying that his sister often taunted him for the humiliation, prompting him to eliminate Mukhija.

The other suspects — Kukku and Happy — also had a motive for killing Mukhija. While Kukku took revenge for being booked in a murder case in 1993 at the behest of Mukhija, Happy also had a grudge against him for slapping a charge of attempt to murder on him.

The other three suspects are said to be the supporters of Kukku and accompanied him to the scene of the crime.

The police, meanwhile, has claimed to have recovered weapons used in the killing of Mukhija.

This followed the interrogation of Surjit Singh and Happy. Based on their disclosures the police raided several places and recovered two 0.12 bore guns that were allegedly used in the crime.

Confirming this, the SP (Detective), Mr Shiv Kumar, said one of the two guns was modified into a small gun by the suspects. Both the weapons were recovered from the Dharamkot area.